hello, halcyon days
by The Knife
Summary: "—and then, for those five times, I'd fall in love with the same person."


**1 | **bleach © kubo tite  
**2 | **'birds' – kate nash (subtitles)  
**3 | **kurosaki spin on ch. 237. i'm sure this has been explored—haven't seen any fics yet, though—but i wanted to try it out.  
**4 | **i have never had baskin robbins because there isn't one here, so i just went to their website and picked the icky-looking flavors.

* * *

**_- well, the stars up in the sky -_  
**

The moment his class ends, he heads to the teachers' lounge.

When he steps in, she is there in her seat, just as she always is, and she is checking test papers. Next to the scores, she draws the strangest things, and he doesn't say anything because it's so like her. She doesn't notice him at first, but when she finally does, time slows down—caramel hair falling off her shoulders, cloudy grey eyes with a spot of sun rising to meet him—and it stops right when she smiles—

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun!"

* * *

_**- and the leaves in the tree -**_

She walks by the shop when he finishes ringing up a kid's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

He smiles, and even before she enters, he already prepares their largest ice cream cup and scoops Egg Nog, Cotton Candy and Wild 'n Reckless Sherbet—the only flavors left that she hasn't tried. She told him weeks ago that she wanted to try everything they had, and so far, she had lived up to that—today's her last day. Right when he's done and he sticks the spoon in the cup, she, with her caramel hair and cloudy grey eyes with a spot of sun, smiles—

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun!"

* * *

_**- all the broken bits that make you trip up -**_

He gets out of bed and leaves his place rather early today.

In his hand is a flier with neat, cursive handwriting—PRINCESS PIES & PASTRIES GRAND OPENING: 7AM, DECEMBER 12TH!—framed by some rather crudely drawn cake and bread. Pocketing the piece of paper, he smiles and wonders if she realized that she didn't put the address, but he knows where it is anyway—there's a small, recently bought lot right next to the entrance of her apartment building with the same cake and bread drawn all over the window. He turns right, and there it is, vibrant lights and the faint smell of pastries filling the street. She's there, too—caramel hair and cloudy grey eyes with a spot of sun—as if waiting for him all along. She smiles—

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun!"

* * *

**_- and the grassy bits in between -_  
**

She's there when he and his two younger sisters enter the donut shop.

His sisters leave his side to go look for a table while he keeps walking closer towards her familiar back. He watches her squatting in front of the donut display, and then she gets up. She searches her pocket for her wallet, and he distinctly hears her say she wants one of everything. He chuckles rather uncharacteristically as he stops right next to her, and that's when she finally notices him. And she, with her caramel hair and cloudy grey eyes with a spot of sun, smiles—

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun!"

* * *

**_- all the matter in the world -_**

He watches her hug her best friend who actually fails to hold back tears.

She comforts her and leaves her to their other friends. She searches among the crowd, and when his eyes meet hers, she moves towards him. Nervous laughter, head bowed down, she doesn't say anything. He smiles—he knows they aren't, in any way, close, but he spreads his arms and lets her in. She throws her arms around his neck, and he wraps his arms around her—his head is buried in her hair, and her chin rests on his shoulder. He hears her sobbing, but he doesn't say anything about it. When they let go, he gets one last good look at her—caramel hair and cloudy grey eyes with a spot of sun. And there's that God-given smile—

"Goodbye, Kurosaki-kun."

* * *

_**- is how much that i like you -**_

He is out enjoying the night when his phone rings.

He doesn't pick it up because he thinks it's just his family calling to come home for dinner. But when it rings again, he fishes his phone out of his pocket to take a look, and he sees a name he hasn't heard in a while: Orihime. He wonders about her—how is she calling him all the way from Mars?—as he quickly answers the phone. On the other end of the line is static, but he calls out to her—

"Hello?"

The static calms, and he can hear her laughing. Lying in the tall grass, cloudless, star-streaked dome overhead, he can imagine her already: caramel hair and cloudy grey eyes with a spot of sun, and that honest, lovely, brilliant smile of hers—

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun!"

If they had met in different lifetimes, he's sure that in all of them, he was glad to have had her there. Though he isn't quite so sure if they'll see each other, he wants her there in every lifetime, golden smile and all waiting for him to come home.


End file.
